Thunder
by TeeWitched
Summary: Rick Grimes has been gone for six years and it's time for the communities to move past his death. The discovery of a new community, led by a charismatic young woman, sparks an interest with Alexandria and Hilltop; but will this new group prove friend or foe? Survivors are constantly learning lessons about getting too close to one another.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

Michonne couldn't sleep again, the sleepless nights began a long time ago and they never went away. After Rick died she slept pretty well, she would cry herself to sleep so often that she was so exhausted and usually got a good eight hours of sleep as a result. It was only once she began to move through the different stages of grief that the sleepless nights actually began. Her pregnancy didn't help things and then RJ went through a stage where he also didn't sleep so they spent countless nights staying up together whilst Judith slept soundly in the next room. But then RJ grew out of it and slept well again and Michonne was left alone again.

She was in her usual spot, staring out of the bedroom window and watching the sun rise steadily over the trees, bathing them in an orange light. She loved this moment in the morning, it almost made the exhaustion worth it. For a few moments she could let go of her worries, her concerns about being a good mother and leader, she could just enjoy the sunrise.

As it came up slowly over the trees, life began to bustle in the street below. People started to go to work, everyone started their days. Michonne watched them for a while, she didn't need to move just yet, for now she could be an observer. She thought about her children, sleeping not far away, and she wondered whether she had done right by them. She went through the same thought every single morning and could never really come up with an answer. She thought that Rick would be happy with how she had raised their children, Judith was a little headstrong and RJ a little troublesome, but it gave them a character and personality that Michonne knew would come to shape them so whenever they threw her to her wit's end she secretly loved them more than ever. Then the thought was replaced with the thought of whether she was a good leader.

The various communities had grown at such a rapid rate that there was no possibility of managing them all. She tried to oversee everything, sometimes she even kidded herself that she was really in charge, but she knew that if she had influence anywhere it was Alexandria, everywhere else had their own things going on. Then there was the rift between Alexandria and Hilltop. Michonne couldn't remember the details exactly, all she remembered was that she and Maggie hadn't seen eye to eye and they had never spoken again. She vaguely remembered reading somewhere, long ago, that the brain chose to forget memories that were too traumatic or upsetting. She wondered why she could hardly remember what had happened with Maggie and Hilltop but she could remember watching the bridge blow up with Rick on it in minute detail. That brought her to her final thought.

The replaying of her lover's death over and over again in her mind. Her daily flagellation which was a necessity if she was going to keep going the way she was going. She sighed as the sun finally crested the trees and drew her attention back to the present.

She closed her eyes for a moment and let the blackness wash away all of her thoughts before forcing a grin on her face, tricking her brain, and when she opened her eyes again, everything was alright. She allowed herself to feel calm and she rose from her spot at the window, she was finally allowed to start her day. She roused Judith and RJ and made sure they were getting themselves out of bed and dressed before descending to the kitchen to begin breakfast. As she prepared the food she found a new thought creeping into her mind.

She thought about Daryl. She hadn't seen Daryl in a long time, now she thought about it, it must have been years since he had last visited Alexandria, and she didn't know where he was. Only Carol knew where he was now, and she wouldn't tell anyone without his permission. She wondered if she would ever see her old friend again, Judith had missed him at first but she'd forgotten about him pretty quickly with her child's brain. RJ had never even met him. Michonne paused in her preparations and closed her eyes again to banish the painful thoughts. She couldn't think about Daryl now, if she thought about him then it would bring back memories of Rick, and that wasn't something she could deal with right now. She was interrupted by Judith and RJ appearing, ready for their breakfast, and she didn't need to work to expel the thoughts - her duties as mother dispelled them for her.

Daryl watched the sunrise over the tops of the trees and almost smiled to himself. He'd been living in his little camp by the river for years now, but he never tired of watching the sunrise. He didn't bother dwelling on things at this time, he didn't believe in meditation. Instead he focused on collecting his fish for his and his dog's breakfast before planning out the direction he was planning on going that day.

He had spent years searching for Rick's body along this river. In his heart he knew he would never find it, that it was long gone by now, but he couldn't bring himself to go back to a civilisation where his best friend just wasn't there. So now he travelled along the river, walking up and down with his dog, never really focusing on anything other than where his feet wanted to go. He had no purpose, he had no obligations, he was content - he supposed.

The truth was that he had felt isolated long before Rick had died. When Carol and Ezekiel began their relationship he felt like he no longer had a real anchor within the group, he didn't have someone to stand with during the group meetings, he didn't have someone he really felt close to anymore. Of course, he knew that just because she married the King it meant that Carol was no longer his friend, she still came to see him every so often, but there was still a rift there that he couldn't deny. It was easier to become an outcast when he really was one.

He finished off his breakfast and gave the scraps to Dog, he didn't have much of an appetite anyway. He collected his supplies whilst he waited for Dog to finish his breakfast before he wordlessly began his day. The pair of them trudged through the forest in a new direction. He had seen smoke rising from above the trees not too far from his camp recently and he wanted to see if there was another survivor nearby whom he could send in the direction of the Kingdom or Hilltop - he'd heard that Alexandria were no longer so welcoming to newcomers.

As he moved through the trees, Dog wandered off and left him alone but he knew that they would reconvene back at the campsite before nightfall. He approached a clearing and slowed his footsteps, he could hear bustling and voices. It didn't sound like one or two survivors, it sounded like a small community. He kept hidden amongst the trees before finding one he could easily climb. He clambered clumsily up the branches before finding a settling place and turning his attention to the community. It was larger than he'd even suspected, it wouldn't necessarily be an asset to Alexandria or Hilltop, more likely a threat.

There were families, men, women and children milling about through the campsite and talking, laughing, living their lives. Daryl watched with a hint of jealousy as one small girl coloured at a fold out table whilst her mother did laundry beside her. The child reminded him of Judith and a pang of guilt stabbed at his heart as he tried to remember the last time he saw her. The girl finished her drawing and presented it proudly to her mother, Daryl edged forward slightly so he could hear her.

'Wow! That's so good!' the mother praised and the girl beamed. 'Why don't you go show, Vic?' the mother asked and the girl looked suddenly bashful. 'She'll be so impressed with you!' the mother encouraged and Daryl narrowed his eyes, he assumed this "Vic" was the leader of their group.

'What will she be impressed by?' another voice said, it was a girl who was approaching from the other side of the tent and Daryl couldn't quite see her face as she kept her back to him. She was short and slender, she couldn't have been taller than five-two, five-three at a push. Her hair was cropped to chin length and pulled back into a half-ponytail at the back of her head, she wore black, biker boots and a leather jacket. She had a red bandana tied around her wrist and Daryl's heart skipped a beat as he remembered his own long-lost red bandana. This was probably a different one.

'Look, Vic, Annie drew a picture of you!' the mother said as the girl crouched down beside the girl identified as Annie.

'Holy crap Annie, if you get any better we're going to have to start selling your drawings for food.' the girl said. She had a flat voice but at the same time Daryl could tell that she was emphasising her words for the child who beamed shyly with pride.

'You hungry, kiddo?' she asked and the child nodded. Vic rooted around in her pocket for a moment before producing an old candy bar, Daryl wondered where the hell she could have gotten it. 'Don't eat it all at once.' she suggested. 'And share with your brother.' she instructed before standing up again as other people approached her with concerns.

Daryl could see how people addressed her, could see how they looked up to her and respected her. It was clear that she was the leader of the group, he still couldn't see her face but he could tell that she was young and he wondered how she had come into being a leader of a sizeable community.

She moved away amongst the group of people addressing her with their concerns and Daryl lost sight of her amongst the tents. He sighed and watched them for a little longer, secretly hoping to catch sight of the girl again so he could get a better idea of what kind of place this was and what kind of threat they might pose to his old friends.

As he watched them he tried to single out the person who was like him, the person who stood out as the outcast, but he couldn't find them. Everyone had someone, everyone was accepted and, despite everything they all seemed happy. He shifted slightly to try and catch sight of Vic's face but she seemed to always be positioned in such a way that he couldn't see her.

Over the course of the day her hair loosened from the ponytail and hung around her face in a messy, dirty sort of way. It obscured her face even more and Daryl momentarily feared that he had been spotted before realising that it was impossible, he was well hidden in the trees. As the sun began to decline his stomach rumbled and he decided to leave the camp for the night and return in the morning. He made the decision almost instantly to keep an eye on this camp, to watch these people and learn as much about them as he possibly could.

He especially wanted to learn more about Vic, he wanted to know how she could be the leader of a community at such a young age when there were older people around her who didn't seem to mind playing to her fiddle.

As he returned to his camp where Dog was dutifully waiting, he found himself thinking about the strange girl in the strange camp and he wondered just how it felt to be accepted like that. He considered "accidentally" wondering into their camp to get to know them better but that was more of a play Carol would use. No, he needed to observe them from afar for a while and go from there. He decided he would keep watch for a few days and then possibly report his findings to Alexandria, they needed to know if there was a new threat to their safety.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next morning Daryl put his things together and set off on the long journey to Alexandria. Dog trotted faithfully behind him and for this reason Daryl had to drive his motorbike slowly which made him anxious to get there faster. The journey could have taken him less than a day if he hadn't had Dog but it took him until the following morning and by this time he was starting to get paranoid that he might have been followed even though he knew that it was unlikely that he wouldn't have noticed if he had been.

When he arrived he was exhausted but he wanted to see Michonne immediately. She was sitting in the garden showing R.J and Judith how to plant some seeds and explaining how to take care of them. It looked like a picture of life before the apocalypse, just a mother and her two children working in a garden in the warmth of the late summer. He approached slowly, not particularly wanting to interrupt and wishing that Michonne had been alone when he found her.

'Hey,' he greeted them softly and Judith jumped up with a grin on her face as she rushed to meet her Uncle Daryl whom she hardly saw. He half-heartedly returned her hug but she didn't seem to notice or mind. Michonne also stood and smiled at the sight of him and R.J shyly hid behind his mothers legs.

'Daryl, this is a nice surprise.' Michonne said and he gave her a nod. 'Judith will you help R.J with the plants?' Michonne requested, understanding the subtext behind his gesture. Judith dutifully returned to her brother's side and Michonne took Daryl into the house where they couldn't be heard by the children.

'I assume this isn't a social call.' she said to him quietly as she leant against the countertop and looked out the kitchen window, still watching the children.

'Not exactly,' he replied in his usual gruff tone. 'I found a group, they're pretty big and not too far from here, a day away maybe?' he told her and she nodded her head thoughtfully but didn't reply so he continued.

'It might be worth checking them out? Making the first move so they're aware of you before they find you?' he suggested and she looked at him with a hard look in her eyes.

'What about you? Do they know about you?' she asked and he shook his head.

'Nah, I kept in the shadows.' he told her and she nodded again and returned her gaze to the children but her expression was thoughtful and he could tell she was thinking about other things than the plants. There was a long silence as Michonne digested the information he had given her and tried to decide what to do with it. Daryl waited patiently, he was just a foot soldier not a leader, he would do what he was told to do. Eventually Michonne sighed and turned back to him.

'I need to see them for myself before I make any decisions about what we do next. We need to do a supply run anyway so we'll kill two birds with one stone. You'll come with us?' she decided and he nodded his assent.

'Name a time and day.' he told her and she thought for a moment.

'Tomorrow, I'll get a few people together, we'll keep the team small.' she said and he nodded again, it was a good shout for a scouting mission.

'I want to come.' a small voice said from the door and they both turned in surprise to see Judith stood with her arms crossed defiantly.

'I thought I told you to stay with your brother.' Michonne scolded her lightly and Judith walked into the room; Daryl remained quiet.

'If you're going to see a new group I want to come and see too.' Judith repeated, ignoring her mother's admonition.

'Absolutely not.' Michonne told her firmly but there was a fire in Judith's eyes that made her look more like Rick than ever and Daryl was vaguely amused at this battle of wits between them.

'I've been out there before, loads of times. Besides you might need someone to climb up a tall tree and nobody would be light enough except for me. I can be helpful, more helpful even than some of the others.' she justified and Daryl had to admit she kind of had a point but he wouldn't dare admit it aloud.

'It's still too dangerous this time, Judith. We don't know anything about this group.' Michonne argued but Judith was in no way budging. Sensing an ensuing argument Daryl began to step in the direction of the door and sure enough as he slipped out voices were raised and by the time he had returned to the other side of the house he could hear them both yelling at one another. He smiled slightly to himself, he had always known that "little ass-kicker" was an apt nickname for that little fireball.

Daryl always found refuge at Aaron's when he visited and this time was no different. Dog delighted in the company of Gracie and Daryl enjoyed a hot meal and and bed for the night.

By the next morning Michonne had assembled her team consisting of herself, Aaron, Rosita and Judith who tagged along with a smug smile plastered on her face. Daryl smiled slightly when he saw the child, he wasn't in the slightest surprised to see that Judith had gotten her own way, but he masked the smile quickly when Michonne shot him a warning glare.

It was clear that she had spent most of the night concocting a plan and where they were heading. She went over it with them twice and they gathered what they needed before wasting no time in heading out. They went on foot to keep quieter and Daryl had that itching feeling at the back of his neck again, that paranoia that maybe he had been followed despite the fact that he knew it was unlikely.

They walked for a couple of hours and Michonne instructed Judith to stick close to Rosita so that she could take the front with Daryl and Aaron could cover their rear. They waked in a slightly awkward formation but it was the safest way of keeping eyes everywhere at all times.

They walked in silence and Daryl kept his eyes peeled, every snap of a twig made him nervous, every shadow that flitted in the corner of his eye. They began to approach a small town, one they had all passed through hundreds of times. It was basically clear of the dead unless more wandered in but there were a few places that hadn't been raided yet and stripped of all the supplies they could offer, they could only carry so much.

This was there destination for the first leg of their journey and they planned on resting there for a while before walking a few more miles before dark. As they entered the town the sun seemed to disappear behind a cloud and they all instinctively banded together slightly as chills ran down their spines.

Suddenly, they rounded a corner and the road was blocked with a series of cars, ones that hadn't been there the last time they had come through this way. They stopped for a moment and all instinctively laid their hands on their weapons.

Aaron turned back but there were bodies suddenly emerging from within buildings and from around the corner they had just turned. The bodies weren't dead, they brandished weapons and sauntered towards them with smiles on their face. People wordlessly climbed over the cars and the group huddled together as they realised they were surrounded by the group. They didn't attack, they simply surrounded the Survivors in a circle and stood still and silent with smiling faces.

Michonne and Daryl glanced at one another as they both realised that a fight would be futile, they were vastly outnumbered. It was times like these, more than any other time, that they wished they still had Rick. He would have known exactly what to do in this situation, he always knew what to do. Michonne found herself thinking about their first proper meeting with the Saviours and Negan, the way they had been surrounded like this and the way Rick tried to handle the situation; she couldn't lose people the way they had back then but the situation felt eerily similar and she was momentarily worried that these people were old Saviours who had refused to join Rick and his collection of groups. She glanced at Daryl again and could see that the same worries were going through his own mind.

Daryl himself studied the faces of the people and searched for their leader, the girl, somehow he just knew that this was group he had been watching and that they had been following him, leading him on and waiting for him to lead them right to where they wanted him. He wanted some validation that his theory was correct, he wanted to know that he was on the right path so that he could work out a plan of attack, and he finally found it. One of the faces was the woman, the mother of the little girl who had drawn the picture of the leader, he felt a little easier knowing he knew who these people were.

They stood in this awkward way for a few minutes, Michonne wasn't sure what to do, whether they wanted them to attack or not. She gripped her katana a little tighter.

Suddenly there was a loud clang as someone began to climb over the bonnets of the cars which had blocked their path. A young woman climbed over, her short blonde hair scraped into a ponytail on the back of her head, her hands grimy as evidence of her hard-working nature. She climbed athletically over and jumped down before striding out in front of the group and Daryl scowled as she shot a special smile in his direction.

She was shorter than he had originally thought and slightly older, but she was athletically built and looked like she would probably be an equal match in any kind of fight. She wore a black, leather jacket which hung open revealing a grimy t-shirt, combined with heavy duty boots and jeans. It seemed leather jackets were the makings of these kind of leaders. She wore a gun holstered to her belt and a long, sheath knife attached to the other side but she made no move for them; instead she stuffed her hands into her pockets and grinned at the small group.

'Hi,' she said in a warm voice, 'My name is Victoria, but all my friends call me Vic.'

There was an awkward pause as they tried to work out what they were supposed to do with this information.

'Don't worry,' she said after a few moments, 'none of my friends here are going to hurt you. We don't really like getting into fights.'

'Then you can just let us go peacefully on our way.' Michonne requested in an equally calm tone. Her friends recognised the approach she was taking, feigning ignorance of the fact they had been headed for Vic's group all along, pretend they knew nothing about them.

'We intend to.' Vic told her brightly and Aaron seemed to relax slightly but the other three remained on their guard, Judith remained hidden between them.

'Then why the show?' Aaron asked.

'I'll drop my pretence if you drop yours.' she told them. Her voice was still bright but there was a flash of warning in her eyes, they knew that this was the moment which would define the relationship between the two groups, whether they would be friend or foe. Daryl knew this had been his mistake and he needed to rectify it but before he could say anything Vic was suddenly crouched down peering into their legs.

'Oh my God, is that a dog?' she asked excitedly and they released their breath as they thought she had spotted Judith.

'Yeah.' Rosita replied coolly and Vic brightened like a child on Christmas morning.

'He's domesticated?' she asked and Daryl shrugged.

'Kinda.' was his clipped response. Vic reached swiftly for her weapons and they raised their own again quickly but she realised her mistake and held her hands up in a surrender sign.

'Wait, sorry, I'm going to remove my weapons slowly and hand them to my friend here.' she said and Michonne nodded, trusting Daryl's instincts to take her down before she did any damage to any of them first. She did as she said and handed them to the woman next to her before turning in a circle to show them she wasn't hiding anything else. Then she began to slowly approach them, taking each step in a calculated way before she reached Daryl.

'Can I pet your dog?' she asked in a genuinely innocent tone and once again they were confused about the intentions of this group. They looked between themselves for a moment before Daryl gave a sharp nod and Vic came forward a couple of steps before kneeling down on the dusty floor. She held out her hands and clicked whilst whistling.

'Here, boy...' she called and Dog gave into his instincts and hurried forward to sniff her fingers. She patiently waited for him to decide whether he liked her or not and he decided he did and she began to pet him with genuine glee.

'It's been so long since I've seen a dog... the last time we had a dog at camp it became dinner.' her voice was soft and gentle but there was an underlying threat there that made their hair stand on end. She didn't do anything dangerous, she didn't actively encourage any kind of violence towards them but there was still that knife edge to her. After a short deliberation, Michonne lowered her weapon and the others followed her suit but were confused.

'You're right,' Michonne said as Vic stood again, Dog continued to sit patiently at her feet, looking up at her and craving the love she had been showing him.

'You were coming to scout out our camp?' Vic asked and Michonne nodded. Daryl placed his finger on the trigger of his crossbow, ready for all eventualities.

'That's smart.' Vic replied with a light shrug of her shoulders. 'We would have done the same if we'd known you were here.'

'If you didn't know about us how did you find us?' Aaron asked.

'We saw you climbing the tree, we followed you.' she told Daryl and he mentally scolded himself for being sloppy, he'd thought he would have gotten away with it.

'Alright then, where do we go from here?' Rosita asked and Vic shrugged again as she returned to her place in the formation and replaced her gun and knife.

'We don't like violence, but we also don't like to be spied on, and we don't know anything about you. I do feel like I need to warn you that we've got into scrapes before, we've never lost a fight.' she told them calmly, absent-mindedly putting her hand to her neck and tracing a scar close to her ear.

'We don't want to fight either.' Aaron said, the diplomat in him coming out.

'Good, I'm glad we're all on the same page.' Vic grinned and made to turn and leave before spinning on her heel suddenly.

'Oh just one more thing, we're going to need half your supplies.' she told them with that same grin and they froze. They had brought scant provisions with them as it was and they still needed to complete their supply run, if they returned with less than what they had gone out with then they would begin to run out of provisions within a couple of days.

'We can't give you that.' Michonne told her with a quiet voice and Vic dropped her smile slightly as she came forward again. She didn't reply but narrowed her eyes slightly; she and Michonne kept their eyes locked for a long time like they were having a wordless conversation. A man slightly to Vic's left began to get impatient and stepped forward.

'Vic we need those supplies.' he told her in a gruff voice, his hand reaching for his weapon and a couple of the others followed his lead uncertainly. Vic held up her hand as Daryl and Rosita raised their own weapons in response and she shook her head.

'They need them too.' she said softly and Michonne was surprised. 'What are your names?' she asked in the same soft tone and Michonne was unsure why but she was beginning to trust her.

'My name is Michonne, this is Daryl, Rosita and Aaron.' she told her, gesturing to each of them as she gave their names.

'And?' Vic asked, the playful smile returning. Michonne simply looked confused. 'You think I can't count legs? Who's the little one?' she asked as she took a step back and lightly hit the arm of the man who had raised his weapon. He scowled and dropped his weapons, leading everyone else to do the same.

Michonne opened her mouth to deny Judith's existence but the strong-willed child burst free of her prison of bodies and stepped out in front of them with a defiant look on her features. Vic grinned at her and Judith held onto her gun in her holster.

'My name is Judith.' she told her clearly and Vic crouched down before beckoning to Judith who took a step forward before Michonne reached out an arm to stop her. Vic rolled her eyes before standing up and removing her weapons again.

'I don't hurt kids, come on...' she muttered before crouching down again but Michonne kept her hand on Judith's shoulder, casting a concerned glance at the man who had pulled out his weapons before. Vic remained crouched but looked up at Michonne with genuine, honest eyes.

'If any of my people even scratches this kid I will kill them right here and now in front of you. I do not advocate hurting children and I think most of my people feel the same way.' she told her in a quiet voice and once again Michonne believed her. She released her grip and Judith walked forward slowly so she was stood in front of Vic. She looked into her blue eyes and her scowl lightened slightly, like her mother she felt that there was something about this girl that was trustworthy.

'Well Judith, what's a little girl like you doing out in the big bad world?' Vic asked her gently.

'I like to help wherever I can, I'm small and can fit into tiny spaces.' she told her and Vic nodded slowly, looking her up and down.

'That you can. And, Judith, can you tell me about where you live? What's home like?' she asked gently and everyone in the group stiffened except for Michonne, she was wary but she trusted Judith.

'It's nice.' she replied honestly, 'We're as safe as we can be, we have homes.' she told her and put a hand out and rested it lightly on her shoulder.

'Will you show me?' she asked and Judith stiffened now, her trust beginning to dissipate.

'If I did, how would I know that you wouldn't kill us all and take everything we have?' she asked. Vic nodded again and smiled as if she was proud of her new friend's intellect.

'I suppose all I can give you is my word, which I know isn't worth a lot but there's not much else left these days.' Vic said quietly and then stood up, keeping her hand lightly on Judith's shoulder she addressed Michonne.

'Take us to see where you live, it's only fair you know where we live.' she said with a light shrug, but they were all aware of her hand on Judith's shoulder.

'I don't think that's such a great idea.' Aaron said but Rosita cut in.

'If we don't then they'll just follow us anyway and find out, at least this way we have some control.' she justified and Vic pointed to her.

'This one's got sense.' she commented but Michonne was still silent. Vic sighed and gave Judith a little push to send her back to her family which she did accordingly.

'Listen, we're not asking to move in, we're not necessarily asking for your help at all, but I think it's better for us to be on friendly terms than always being at each other's throats. Right?' she asked and the man beside her shuffled slightly again, adjusting his weapon.

'You're a mother, right?' Vic asked Michonne who's face remained marble, 'We have mother's too, and children, and winter's coming and we live in tents. Sooner or later we're going to need some kind of help and maybe there's a way we can help you too.' she suggested and Daryl nodded.

'We should show them.' he added and Vic gave him a grateful smile. Michonne considered for a few moments, there was a degree of trustworthiness in this girl's face but Michonne recognised a mask of charisma when she saw one. Victoria had the same sheen about her that the Governer had had, the same as Negan. She could talk sense but Michonne didn't doubt that the moment things went south then this girl would take her community for everything she could. Then again Rosita was right and at least this gave them some control over the situation.

'Okay,' she agreed, 'but only a few of your people and you, not your whole group.' she added and Vic nodded before addressing her people.

'Team's A and B head back, my team with me.' she ordered and there wasn't a moment's hesitation before the group dissipated, melting back into their surroundings in the same way they had appeared. A small group of four people joined Vic, including the man with the weapon who still looked like he was plotting something. Vic and her small team approached them and she grinned widely, shrugging her shoulders like they were meeting for a day at the mall or something equally excited. Vic turned to Michonne and something dangerous glinted in her eyes as she spoke.

'Alright then, lead the way.'


End file.
